The present invention relates in general to hollow point bullets, and, more particularly, to a method of manufacturing a hollow point bullet.
The nose portion of a hollow point bullet expands upon impact with a target media thereby increasing the energy transfer capabilities of the bullet. Typically, this expansion results in a number of petals of metal being formed as the nose portion folds back upon itself, thereby increasing the effective diameter of the bullet. This expansion and resultant petal formation is referred to as "mushrooming." A hollow point bullet may be solid or jacketed. A solid bullet typically comprises a solid piece of metal, such as lead or copper. A jacketed bullet typically comprises a lead core surrounded by a harder metal, such as brass. The jacket is relatively hard and slick, compared to the lead of the core, so the bullet is more resistant to mechanical deformation by the action of the gun as compared to the solid bullet.
One such jacketed hollow point bullet is disclosed by Schluckebier in U.S. Pat. No. 5,357,866. The bullet comprises a lead core and brass jacket which terminates at the edge of the opening in the core forming the hollow point. The bullet comprises a plurality of slits through the core and jacket to facilitate mushrooming upon impact. While the slits facilitate mushrooming, the degree and extent of such mushrooming is limited as a sufficient amount of energy is required to cause the petals to tear through the metal past the slits. Further, one or more of the petals may break off after impact, thereby reducing the weight and effectiveness of the bullet. Another disadvantage to such a bullet is that it is relatively expensive to manufacture.
A solid hollow point bullet is disclosed by Brooks in U.S. Pat. No. 5,259,320. The bullet is formed of solid piece of copper. A shaped cavity is formed in the bullet through extrusion. While the bullet does not include any slits to facilitate mushrooming, the shaped cavity forms alternating areas of weakness for mushrooming upon impact. However, more energy is required to cause the bullet to mushroom as compared to a bullet with slits. Such a bullet also requires a number of punching operations in order to form the cavity in the desired configuration. Further, the punches used to form the cavity tend to wear out quickly thereby increasing the production and manufacturing costs of the bullet.
Accordingly, there is a need for a method of manufacturing a hollow point bullet which is inexpensive and which includes fewer processing steps than the prior art.